When you think of folks with lengthy runs in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, familiar faces like Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson might come to mind, but Kerry Condon also has quite a few MCU titles to her name. Condon made her MCU debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron voicing voicing F.R.I.D.A.Y., the user interface chosen by Tony Stark to replace J.A.R.V.I.S. when it became Vision (Paul Bettany). After assisting him in the Battle of Sokovia, Condon returned to voice the role in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

How exactly does one wind up scoring a long-running voice role in one of the highest grossing film franchises of all time? While out promoting her latest release, Dreamland, Condon revealed that her casting might have had something to do with not booking some roles prior. Here’s how she put it:

“I had [no idea] when I went in for it what I was going up for, to be honest. But the casting lady had called me in on a lot of jobs and I’d gotten very close, but I didn’t get them so I kinda suspect she was throwing me a bone a little bit because it was probably like, ‘This poor girl. Christ. She can’t catch a break!’ So she called me in and she didn’t say what it was for or anything, but just [said], just read this paragraph in [an] English accent, America accent and then my own accent. So I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll just read it,’ and didn’t think twice about it. And then they called me and they were like, ‘Oh yes, this is a part in Avengers and can you do it in your own accent?’ It was such a great opportunity. I never would have thought to have done voice at all. I had never done voice work or anything like that. And I didn’t think it would lead to so many movies either. I thought it was just a one-off job.”

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Image via Marvel Studios

Clearly that didn’t wind up being the case and Condon got the opportunity to hone this new skill over the course of five films.“It’s a lot harder than you think, actually," Condon admitted. “It’s a totally different skill.” She also went into detail on how the franchise's heavy secrecy and visual effects impacted her experience in the booth:

“A lot of the time I was doing it to a blank screen because either they didn’t want to show me what it was or it wasn’t fully done. You know, they hadn’t added all the visual effects because I kind of do it at the end of the job, after they’ve shot it and they’re putting in all the special effects so it’s kind of pieced together and so they have to explain what came before and what’s coming afterwards. So you really have to use your imagination and go, ‘Okay, so how high are the stakes? Is this the last battle of the movie or is it the first battle?’ You know, so you can kind of know how much to give.”

Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Endgame
Image via Disney

If you’re wondering about the moment when Condon essentially had to give it all, she addressed that as well. Here’s what she said about recording her lines for Tony Stark’s final moments in Avengers: Endgame:

“But the last one when he died was like, oh my god … At the time I was like, 'But there’s hope, right? He’s not totally dead,’ and they kinda looked at me like - I go, ‘Oh my god!’ I knew my gravy train had just come to a halt! And so they said, ‘Say it like it’s the saddest thing you’ve ever said.’ And I was like, ‘Well, that won’t be f*cking hard! It’s all over!’”

Tony Stark’s story may have come to a close in franchise, but the MCU is powering forward with the Disney+ release of WandaVision in the New Year. And Condon is keeping mighty busy, too! You can catch her in Better Call Saul and in the movie Dreamland alongside Margot Robbie and Finn Cole.